Many consumers are interested in selling items. A consumer may, for example, be interested in selling a used or second-hand item (i.e., a “secondary market” item) that he or she owns but no longer uses. Consumer electronics, exercise equipment, automobiles and collectibles (e.g., coins or stamps) are some examples of such secondary market items. Similarly, a consumer may be interested in selling, for example, a theater or concert ticket that he or she will not be able to use.
One way for a consumer to sell an item is through a merchant who in turn re-sells the item to another consumer. Such a merchant, however, will want to profit from the transaction, or at least pay for overhead associated with the transaction (e.g., employee salaries, rent, insurance). As a result, an item price the consumer may receive from the merchant in exchange for selling the item is generally less than an item price another consumer will be willing to provide to the merchant in exchange for the item.
Moreover, a merchant who deals with a large number of consumers may not be flexible with respect to one or more transaction terms. For example, the merchant may insist that every consumer bring his or her items directly to the merchant. A consumer may, however, prefer that a buyer pick-up an item from his or her home. For example, a consumer may prefer that a buyer pick-up a heavy and bulky piece of exercise equipment. Another consumer may prefer to meet a buyer at a mutually convenient location to complete a transaction (e.g., to maintain his or her anonymity). It will typically not be practical for a merchant to individually negotiate delivery terms, or other transaction terms, with each consumer.
Another problem with selling an item to a merchant is that a consumer may not be able to determine a reasonable price for the item. That is, a merchant will typically set the item price, and the consumer may have no way of knowing if the merchant's item price is reasonable. Although the consumer could bring the item to a number of different merchants to determine a reasonable price (e.g., by comparing item prices set by different merchants), such a solution would be inconvenient and time consuming.
In addition to selling items, many consumers are interested in purchasing items, such as secondary market items. Purchasing such items from merchants, however, may involve the same disadvantages as described above with respect to the sale of such items. Namely, a merchant may increase an item price and may not be flexible with respect to transaction terms. Moreover, a merchant typically determines an item price, and a consumer interested in purchasing the item may not be able to determine if the item price is reasonable.
As a result of these disadvantages, many consumers are interested in completing transactions directly with other consumers. Because no third party needs to make a profit, or pay for overhead, both the seller and the buyer can often benefit from such a direct “consumer-to-consumer” transaction. Moreover, both consumers can work together to decide on agreeable terms for the transaction, such as a mutually convenient delivery location.
To help facilitate consumer-to-consumer transactions, “on-line” services that communicate with a large number of sellers and buyers, such as a World Wide Web site provided via the Internet, have become increasingly popular.
In a classified advertisement, or “classifieds,” type of on-line service, a seller can advertise an item to be sold at a particular price. When a buyer agrees to purchase the item at that price, the item is sold to the buyer. The advertisement may include, for example, a description of the item and an item price. A buyer can similarly advertise that he or she is interested in purchasing a particular type of item.
In an “auction” type of on-line service, a seller posts an item to be sold by auction. A post for an auction may include, for example, an item description but not an item price. A number of buyers may submit bids for that item, and the item is sold to the bidder that submits the highest bid. Such an auction type of on-line service can also let a seller set a “floor price” for the item. That is, the item will not be sold below the floor price even if no higher bids are submitted.
In addition to the classifieds and auction types of services, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/964,967, entitled “Conditional Purchase Offer (CPO) Management System for Collectibles,” discloses a system wherein a CPO management system receives a Conditional Purchase Offer (CPO) from a buyer. The buyer's CPO is a binding offer containing one or more conditions submitted by a buyer for the purchase of an item at a buyer-defined price. The CPO management system then determines whether one or more sellers are willing to accept the buyer's CPO. If a seller accepts the buyer's CPO, and ultimately delivers an item complying with the conditions, the buyer is bound to provide payment of the buyer-defined price. The buyer's CPO may be guaranteed, for example, by a credit card account. In this way, a “race” between sellers results (i.e., the sellers compete to accept a buyer's CPO with a reasonable buyer-defined price).
With the consumer-to-consumer services described above, however, it may be difficult for a buyer and a seller to complete a transaction. For example, although a buyer may be able to determine that a seller is interested in selling a kitchen table, the buyer may not be able to determine if the seller is willing to deliver the table to a particular town. Similarly, a seller interested in selling a camera with a tripod and a particular zoom ratio may need to review information submitted by hundreds of buyers to determine which buyers are interested in purchasing a camera with these qualifications. It may be especially difficult for sellers and buyers to complete a transaction with respect to secondary market items, where the condition of an item can vary widely.
Moreover, problems exist with the ability of known consumer-to-consumer services to match buyers and sellers. For example, a seller may establish an unreasonable item price (e.g., an item price that is too high). Similarly, a buyer may submit an item price that is too low. In other cases, a buyer may be unable to pay, or a seller may be unable to accept, what he or she realizes is a reasonable item price. Such gaps between an item price a seller is willing to accept and an item price a buyer is willing to pay reduces the number of transactions completed by such services.
Another problem with known consumer-to-consumer services is that a seller may initiate, but not complete, a transaction. For example, a buyer may contact a seller who advertised that he or she was interested in selling four tickets to a particular concert only to find out that the seller had already sold the tickets to someone else. Similarly, a seller may back-out of a transaction for any number of other reasons (e.g., if the seller and the buyer are unable to agree on a transaction term, such as a delivery term). In addition, buyers may also decide to not complete a transaction in many consumer-to-consumer services.
Moreover, consumer-to-consumer services typically have only a limited ability and/or flexibility to profit from a completed transaction. For example, an consumer-to-consumer service may charge a seller 5% of a sale price in exchange for facilitating a transaction. The service, however, typically does not select a particular buyer, or a particular seller, based on a resulting profit to the service. Similarly, the service typically does not select a buyer and/or seller based on other information associated with the effectiveness of the service (e.g., a total number of transactions that are completed by the service or demographic characteristics associated with the seller and/or buyer).
Note that, businesses face many of the same problems discussed above with respect to consumers. For example, a business interested in selling items to, or purchasing items from, consumers—or even a business interested in selling items to, or purchasing items from, other businesses—may find it difficult to complete a transaction.
Thus, a need exists for improved systems that facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.